CLOUDwerker

Today, craft enterprises are dependent on IT-support in order to work as efficient as possible. In this field, new service-based offers via the Internet provide a number of advantages. Effort and expenditures resulting from maintenance and upgrading of the software do no longer apply for instance and issues are handled by the IT service provider. But not only savings of time and costs, also new possibilities of joint working with business partners and customers via the Internet will play an increasingly important role in the use of these IT-applications. The project CLOUDwerker investigates further innovative use cases, in which craftspeople profit form services of the cloud.

Aim

The goal is to conceptualize an open and reliable service platform and to implement it prototypically by using and extending current cloud technologies. This platform is supposed to enable the provision of bundles of services in the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. These bundles of services represent crucial mobile and organizational requirements of SMEs and simultaneously support not only B2B cooperations, but also B2C relationships. Services like for instance CRM and ERP may hereby originate from different service providers and moreover, in contrast to current App Stores, may be flexibly adjustable and “smoothly” combinable to added value services in order to ensure a pervasive processing of business processes.

Content / Methodology

In CLOUDwerker, an open and reliable service platform is conceptualized and implemented prototypically for the primary target group, the crafts. Bundles of services in the SaaS model represent crucial organizational requirements and support, besides B2B cooperations, also B2C relationships as well as the interaction with eGovernment services. In the project CLOUDwerker, current cloud technologies and concepts are employed and extended. Furthermore, it is investigated how suitable software services can improve cooperation and collaboration between craft businesses and with customers. Technical concepts and mechanisms are examined that enable the implementation of confidentiality requirements in collaborative scenarios. The inclusion of craft enterprises enables, besides the identification of requirements, an exemplary piloting and validation of the solutions created throughout the project on different levels, a broad impact and an optimal target group relationship.